Today the procedure of seat management in vehicles such as airplanes is static after boarding of the passengers. Usually, the passengers book and pay for a seat on the airplane several days or weeks in advance, i.e. before the flight. The booking status is stored e.g. on a computer of the airline and is checked during boarding of the passengers. After the boarding, the current booking or occupancy status may be printed out and handed to the on board crew.
If the higher classes such as business class or first class are not fully occupied a passenger e.g. from the economy class may be upgraded. The upgrade usually may happen during check-in or boarding of the passengers. Therein, for example a frequent flyer may be upgraded for the duration of the whole flight.
After the boarding is completed the on board crew manages the occupancy of the passengers based on a static system. For example, the chosen menu such as a vegetarian menu is assigned to passengers based on the print out of the booking status handed down to the on board crew after boarding. If a passenger wishes to change his/her seat, he/she may call a member of the on board crew via a communication system known e.g. from DE 10 2005 030 075 A1. However, a relocation of the passengers during the flight is not provided for and would cause additional work for the on board crew, such as a manual change of the booking situation on the print out.
In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.